Electric-railway block system



(No Model.)

F. o. :BLACKWBLL ELECTRIC RAILWAY'BLOGK SYSTEM.

No. 492,457. Patentd Peb. 28, 1893.

i NITED ISirlVrEs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS O. BLACKWELL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE THOMSON-HOUSTON ELECTRIC COMPANY, OE CONNECTICUT.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY BLOCK SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 492,457, dated February 28, 1893.. Application filed February l5, 1892. Serial No. 421,507. (No model.)

To all whom, it may conccrm the invention, and Fig. 2 is a similar view Be it known that I, FRANCIS O. BLACK- showing an arrangement in which the supply WELL, a citizen of the United States, residing conductor sections, instead of being cut-out at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massaaltogether, are temporarily connected with 55 5 chusctts, have invented a new and useful Imthe return line so that a motor running thereprovementin Electric-RailwaylockSystems, on becomes short-circuited. of which the following is a specification. In Fig. 1 the supply conductor is divided The present invention relates to a block up into insulated sections l, 2, 3, dac., in such system of electric railways so arranged that a manner that the trolley, or whatever con- 6o ro each train, whether of one or more cars, autact device is used, may pass uninterruptedly tomatically cuts off the supply of current from one to another. Each of these sections from the preceding block, but keeps such is normally connected in circuit with the genblock cut out only until the train has aderator G by a feeder P or a number of feed- Vanced onto the next section. In this way ers, thefeeding system itself beingimmaterial 65 15 the blocks are all normally in circuit,but nevto the invention. Between such sections and ertheless the presence of a dead section in the generator, however, are located a correthe rear of each train is insured thus avoidsponding number of circuit controllers, coning to a large extentthedangerof a collision. sisting of switches O, O', dac., and double so- The invention may be put to use on any lenoids R, S, R', S, dac., each so arranged that 7o zo electric railway line, but it is especially imwhen theleft-hand coil is energized the switch portant under such service requirements as is closed and the corresponding conductor secare found on an elevated road or on suburban tion put in circuit with the generator, while lines where it is desired to run trains of a on the other hand when the right-hand coil is number of cars under short headway. energized the switch is opened and the con- 75 25 The general manner in which the result ductor section out of circuit.

aimed at is secured consists in dividing up In order that the circuit controllers may be the supply conductor into a number of insuopened and closed automatically the magnet lated sections of adesired length,all of which coils are coupled up in circuit in the followare normally in circuit with the generators at ing manner: The switch corresponding to any 8o 3o the power station and are supplied with curgiven section is connected to the generator rent bya system of feeders in the usual manthrough the opening coil of the preceding secner. Circuitcontrollers,however,areprovided tion and the closing coil 0f the second prefor cutting out these sections temporarily, and ceding section. For example, in Fig. l, a train these circuit controllers are so arranged that is indicated on block 2,the switch Ois closed, 8 5 3 5 when a train is on a given section the conand current is supplied tothis section through troller corresponding tothe preceding section o in which is included the coil S of the preis shifted so as to cut the section out and ceding section, which therefore is energized, leave without motive power any train which and holds the switch O open. "When the train may come upon it. VVhemhowever, the train on section 2 advances to section 3,' current 9o 4o advances one section farther, the new section will flow through o2, which will energize coil just left becomes the cut-out section, and the S opening the switch O of block 2, and will one formerly cut-out is now coupled up in ciralso energize the coil R closing the switch of cuit again and may be safely occupied by a the next preceding block 1. Afollowing train second train. As afurther safeguard against may then run on to block l, and will receive 95 45 accidents means are provided for short-cirthe normal supply of current. The manner cuiting the motor, or for applying the brakes, of connecting up in circuit the switches for automatically whenever a train runs on to the remaining sections is exactly the same as one of the block sections which, as just dealready described, and the mode of operation scribed, is temporarily out of circuit. will be understood. roo 5o In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis The return conductor D is represented as a diagrammatic view illustrating one form of consisting of the track rails so that wheels Q of the train forni a part of the circuit, the car circuit also including the motorA, a suitable regulator B and a contact trolley T. In order that the brakes may be automatically applied whenevena train runs onto a blocked section, there is shown in Fig. l a magnet I-l coupled up in shunt with the motor and holding the brake shoes away from the wheels against the stress of a spring I. If now the magnet be de-energized by failure of the inotive current, the spring instantly applies the brakes. In actual practice the brakes may be set in a number of ways.

In Fig. 2 the means for supplying current to the different sections are the same as in Fig. l, as is also the manner in which the circuit controllers are connected and operated, except that a train, instead of cutting out from circuit altogether the preceding section, couples such section to the return conductor D so that a inotor running on this block will be short-circuited. For example, to trace a single circuit, it will be seen that current is fed to the motor on section 5 from the feeding conductor I), through the switch OIl including, as it does, the closing coil R2 of switch O2 and the opening coil S3 of switch O3, hence the switch O2 is re-set to its normal position putting section 3 in circuit in readiness for a train to proceed thereon. Switch O3, however, has been thrown into engagement with a contact connected to the return conductor D, which position the switch will maintain until the train on section 5 advances to section 6. In this modification a switch K is shown on the vehicle adapted to shunt the regulator B by connecting with contact 1", and having its movement controlled on the one hand by a magnet H in shunt with the motor, and on the other hand by a spring L which closes said switch when the magnet is de-energized. It will therefore be readily understood that if a motor so arranged comes upon a block system it will be short-circuited and will act as a brake to arrest the train.

I am aware that it has been proposed hitherto to use a sectional supply conductor, the sections of which are normally out of circuit, but which are automatically coupled up in circuit one after another upon the passing of a train over them. The present arrangement, however, is quite different as the sections are normally in circuit, and the circuit controllers are provided, not to temporarily connect that section on which the train is with the feeding conductor, but to insure a blocked section in the rear of the trains and thereby to avoid danger of collision.

A device of this nature is shown in Patent No. 430,329, granted Merle J. Wightman June 17, 1890, but, as indicated above, I do not claim this as my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a sectional power supply conductor, with a feeding conductor or conductors, circuit controllers normally preserving the power supply conductor sections in circuit with the feeding conductor, and means brought into and kept in action during the presence of a car or train on any given section for cutting out of circuit the preceding section, as set. forth.

2. The combination of a power supply conductor divided into insulated sections, with electro-magnetically actuated circuit controllers normally preserving such power conductor sections in circuit with the source of electric supply, and a circuit closed by the presence of a train on any given section for shifting the controller of the preceding section and cutting such section temporarily outof circuit.

3. The combination of a power supply conductor divided into insulated sections, with circuit controllers normally preserving such power conductor sections in circuit with the source of supply, an electro-magnet arranged toopen the circuit of a preceding section when energized and a circuit for energizing such magnet automatically closed by the presence of a train on an advance section.

1l. The combination of a power supply conductor divided into insulated sections, circuit controllers normally preserving such power conductor sections in circuit with the source of supply, and electro-magnets for shifting such circuit controllers into open and closed positions, and coupled up in circuit so that by a presence of a train on any given section the circuit on the immediately preceding section IOO is opened, and the circuit of the second preceding section closed, as set forth.

5. The combination of a supply conductor divided into insulated sections, with switches normally preserving such sections in circuit with the source of supply, and electro-inagnets for shifting such switches each comprising an opening and a closing coil, the opening coil of a given magnet being included in circuit with the preceding section immediately in advance, and the closing coil in circuit with the next section in advance, as set forth.

6. The combination of asupply conductor divided into insulated sections, with switches adapted to connect such sections with either pole of the source of supply, and electro-magnets controlled by the presence of a train on a given section for breaking the normal connection of a succeeding section with the generator and temporarily coupling it to the return conductor, as set forth.

7. The combination of a block electric railway system, having a sectional supply conductor, in which any given section is temporarily cut out of circuit while a train is present on a succeeding section, with means for automatically braking or stopping a train traveling over such railway responsive to, or thrown into action upon, the cessation of the motive current driving the car.

IIO

`rent for maintaining such device out of action While current is supplied to the section Occupied by the train, but for automatically applying the said device should the supply of 1o motive current cease, as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand this 11th day of February, 1892.

FRANCIS O.` BLACKWELL.

Witnesses:

E. H. BOOTH, JOHN B. BLOOD. 

